Hanoi – Ninh Binh – Ha Long 2-Day Backpacking Trip

With just a 2-day, 1-night trip, you can explore two of the hottest tourist destinations in Northern Vietnam: Ninh Binh and Ha Long Bay. iVIVU will help you arrange the following itinerary departing from Hanoi:

Day 1: Hanoi – Ninh Binh

Depart at 7:00 AM from Hanoi’s Southern Bus Station (Giap Bat Bus Station) on Giai Phong Street to Ninh Binh. Buses depart every 30 minutes from 6:00 AM to 6:00 PM daily, operated by Hoang Long, Minh Long Cat Loi, or Ninh Binh Joint Stock Company. Contact: 04.38641467. Current prices range from 60,000 to 100,000 VND per ticket. Due to the opening of the Cau Gie Expressway, the travel time from Hanoi to Ninh Binh Bus Station is now only about 50-60 minutes.

At 8:00 AM, you arrive in Ninh Binh town. Have breakfast with Ninh Binh’s specialty eel vermicelli on Tran Hung Dao street, or at 86 Vo Thi Sau, opposite the Youth Park. After breakfast, take a bus to Bai Dinh Pagoda. Ninh Binh town is about 15 km from Bai Dinh Pagoda. You can take a taxi if you are in a large group, or take a bus or motorbike taxi.

At 9:00 AM, arrive at Bai Dinh Pagoda and enjoy the scenery.

At 12:00 PM, have lunch at Thanh Cao restaurant, right near Bai Dinh Pagoda (Address: Xuan Son, Truong Yen, Hoa Lu, Ninh Binh, phone: (030) 362.00.81). The dishes are quite diverse, including: traditional Ninh Binh mountain goat specialties, hill chicken, crispy rice and other Vietnamese dishes… at reasonable prices. To have a beautiful view of the Hoang Long River, you can go to Hoang Giang restaurant (Hang Ca, Truong Yen, Hoa Lu, Ninh Binh, Tel: (030) 362.00.72).

At 2:30 PM, you arrive at Trang An tourist area, in the opposite direction from where you left, 5 km away. Buy entrance tickets and boat tickets: 100,000 VND/person. You should avoid going to Trang An during peak seasons to avoid crowds, queues, and chaos.

At 5:30 PM, finish your Trang An tour and take a bus from Bai Dinh back to Ninh Binh town. Here you have two options: Either have dinner and stay overnight at a Ninh Binh hotel or have dinner and then return to Hanoi, staying at a Hanoi hotel. iVIVU chose the second option to make the trip to Ha Long Bay, Quang Ninh less tiring the next day. If you have dinner in Ninh Binh, you can go to Huong Mai restaurant, at 12 Tran Hung Dao Street.

Day 2: Hanoi – Ha Long

Depart at 6:00 AM for Ha Long, 170 km from Hanoi, a 3-4 hour drive. If traveling independently, you can take a bus from Hanoi. From Kim Ma bus station on Nguyen Thai Hoc street, take a Hoang Long Express bus; buses depart every 15 minutes. You can also depart from Luong Yen or Gia Lam bus stations and arrive at Bai Chay bus station. To save time, have breakfast beforehand or eat on the way. The ticket price is approximately 90,000 – 120,000 VND/ticket.

(Those who are more energetic and want to stay in Ninh Binh town the next morning can take a bus to Giap Bat; from there, there are also buses running from Hanoi to Quang Ninh. Get off at Bai Chay.)

Arrive at Bai Chay bus station at 10:00 AM. From the bus station to the Bai Chay tourist port (Tel: 033.3846592), motorbike taxi: approximately 30,000 VND/person, bus: approximately 5-10,000 VND/person. You should take a taxi if your group is 3 or more people.

Daily, the Bai Chay Tourist Port organizes tours for individual visitors on Route 1 (Thien Cung Cave – Dau Go Cave, passing by Dog Stone Island, Incense Peak, and Drum and Rooster Rock) with a 4-hour journey, costing 100,000 VND/person; at fixed times: 8:00 AM and 12:30 PM. (According to regulations, in addition to the boat tour ticket, you must purchase an additional entrance ticket as a contribution from tourists to preserve Ha Long Bay). You should go directly to the official ticket counter of the tourist area, not buy from ticket touts.

Note: You can change the itinerary to: Hanoi – Ha Long – Hanoi – Ninh Binh – Hanoi. Thus, you can experience one of the favorite options for tourists: spending the night on cruise ships readily available in Ha Long Bay to enjoy the fresh and cool sea air, with prices starting from 2,028,000 VND/night. However, the service prices on these ships are quite expensive and usually apply to a 2-day, 1-night trip, with many recreational activities such as squid fishing, kayaking, mountain climbing, cave exploration, etc. Therefore, you should only choose to spend the night on a ship if you have the time and budget.